


Across the Border

by AshsHorrorShow



Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: Angst, Character Study, Family, Gen, Mapleshade Is a Terrible Cat But She Misses Her Kits
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-09
Updated: 2017-09-09
Packaged: 2018-12-25 18:06:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12041337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshsHorrorShow/pseuds/AshsHorrorShow
Summary: Once again, Mapleshade found herself standing in front of the StarClan border, in the hopes she would find three specific figures over on the other side.





	Across the Border

Mapleshade stared at the border that separated the Dark Forest and StarClan in silent contemplation. She always found it somewhat amusing that the difference between the two places was as vast as night and day. In StarClan, wildlife and vegetation seemed to flourish, making their territory look like some kind of Eden. She could not boast the same for the Dark Forest. Over where she resided, the only plant life that seemed to be able to survive were a few spindly trees that resembled bones and a few fungi here and there. 

In StarClan, the sun shone bright during the day and at night, the stars that weren’t decorating the StarClan warriors’ pelts shed a comforting light down on them. Over here in the Place of No Stars, only darkness seemed to thrive. What little light there was came from the dim glow the fungi let out. The contrast between the two places as far as lighting went was so drastic, Mapleshade found StarClan almost blinding to look at.

Occasionally, she would see StarClan cats talking together from her spot on the border. They always seemed happy or content. This was also very different from how things ran in the Dark Forest. Cats here rarely interacted with one another, preferring to keep to themselves. As far as she was concerned, most cats to her were just ominous shadows with eerie glowing eyes that were just trying to pass through so they could continue their eternal, aimless wandering. Whenever cats here did actually get personal, most of the time, it was simply to fight. Fights here were not like how they were up there in the living realm. With no code to stop them, most cats here fought to the death, or at least, to severely mutilate. The concept of mercy had no place here. 

If there wasn't a pained scream ripping through the air every few moments, then Mapleshade considered the ambience of the Place of No Stars gone. 

Mapleshade didn’t mind the fighting culture that had gotten set up here. While she was not constantly looking for fights (cats who did that usually died pretty fast), she did enjoy getting to sink her claws into any fool who thought she’d be an easy fight and making sure, if she decided to let them live that is, that they learned a lesson they would never forget. 

Most cats who wound up down here bemoaned their fate, thinking StarClan wrongfully denied them their opportunity at paradise, but Mapleshade couldn’t say she felt their desire to be in StarClan. Sure, StarClan may be prettier, the soil there actually solid instead of the moist marshy stuff they had here in the Dark Forest, and their water might be clear and blue unlike the murky brown sludge they had… but to her, it was the farthest thing from paradise.

She knew that the cats of StarClan found her cruel and wicked, and whenever she thought of that, she wanted to break out into raucous laughter. HA! Wasn’t that funny? After all, they were the ones who allowed all of those bad things to happen to her and her kits. They allowed cats more wicked than her, cats like Ravenwing, Appledusk, and Frecklewish, to join their ranks despite the hatred in their hearts. As far as she was concerned, they were the true evil ones in this situation.

And to be honest, any place that had any of her old Clanmates wandering around was no paradise for her. 

So why was it whenever she found herself near the StarClan border, she found herself compelled to stop and look for a moment? She was sure that was what the few StarClan cats who caught her staring wondered. After all, they glared at her and lashed their tails to show they were prepared to fight and mistrustful of her intentions. Ha! Like they could fight her! She was willing to bet most StarClan cats would run with their tails between their legs if she stepped one paw over the border.

She wondered if they thought she was jealous or planning to attack them, not caring if such an action would basically be suicide. Well, neither of those were correct. 

The real reason she hung around the StarClan border was because she wanted to see if three particular cats were alright. 

She found it somewhat ridiculous she did this. After all, she didn’t even know if her kits had been allowed to join StarClan. After all, StarClan certainly hadn’t held any qualms about letting them drown. But she found herself keeping a lookout just in case. 

She had long ago accepted she would never again be reunited with her precious, beautiful kits. Destiny didn’t want them together, and maybe in the end, that was for the best. But selfish though it may be, a part of her was itching to at least know where and how they were. 

She found herself hoping desperately that one day she would see them playing somewhere near the border. She didn’t need them to see her (she figured that would just be harder on her) nor did she have to see all three of them. Just the sight of ONE of them walking and enjoying his or her life would be enough to put her heart at rest. 

It hadn’t happened yet but maybe one day…

She was willing to wait. After all, she had all the time in the world.

**Author's Note:**

> Poor Mapleshade. While I do not think Mapleshade is a very sentimental cat... I do believe she does miss her kits, even after all these years. After all, she was willing to go on a whole killing spree in their honor. I would imagine she would want them to be happy. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed and as always, critique is wanted.


End file.
